Dative experiencers with nominal predicates in Romanian

A synchronic and diachronic study

Bibliographic Data

ID21463142
AuthorsMihaela Ilioaia (0000-0001-5753-9566, Ghent University, corresponding author), Marleen Van Peteghem (0000-0002-3444-6428, Ghent University)
Year2021
Volume55
Issues42-s2
Pages255-290
Publication date2021-11-25
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueFolia Linguistica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0165-4004 • E-ISSN: 1614-7308
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/flin-2021-2031
OpenAlexW3207909624
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited30

This article investigates the evolution of the Romanian pattern [dative clitic + ‘ be ’ + N] (cf. Mi-e foame , lit. me .dat= is hunger, ‘I’m hungry’) from the 16th century until present-day Romanian. This pattern traces back to the Latin mihi est construction (lit. me. dat is), but is semantically more restricted than its Latin ancestor in that it can only express a physiological or psychological state. The aim of our study is to examine to what extent the dative experiencer behaves like a subject and the noun denoting a state like a predicate. We argue that, although certain subject diagnostics raise problems in Romanian, due to the obligatoriness of clitics and the scarcity of controlled infinitives, this pattern is clearly an instance of non-canonical subject marking with quirky dative case. The tendency toward expansion of this construction in present-day Romanian contradicts the hypothesis proposed in language typology according to which non-canonical subject marking tends to recede in favor of canonical marking in European languages

Clitic · Dative case · Genitive case · Linguistics · Nominative case · Noun · Numeral system · Romanian · Typology · Verb · Computer Science · History · Lexicography and Language Studies · Linguistics and language evolution · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation · Artificial Intelligence